Forgive Us Our Sins
by Dinky Barrel
Summary: This is the original story, but soon to be a series of short stories involving Rufus and his sister (OC) Rufeine. Name is subject to change and so are parts of the story.


Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Rufeine and the worker dude, belong to Square. Rufeine belongs to me, the worker dude belongs to everyone. In the highly unlikely event that you want to use Rufeine in any of your fics, please email me and we will work things out.

Forgive Us Our Sins by Skye Anchors

The young woman in her late twenties stepped carefully around the rubble that was once the 61st floor of the Shinra Building. She had been here before, no; she grew up in this place. Had her first job here, it all began here. A single strawberry-blonde lock escaped her tight bun, dangling distractingly in front of her face, and in a familiar sweeping motion, she brushed it aside. Ocean blue eyes sweep over the destruction, surveying all that was left behind. Finally she caught sight of a burnt white sleeve hidden under the remains of a heavy table. 

"Over there…"

"Yes, Ms Shinra. I'm surprised that you knew and came but…"

She gave the man a cutting look and he shut up immediately. _Shinra_… She hated to be identified with that man. The only good thing he had done was die. Corrupting everything he touched, the land, the people, even his own son. Everyone thought that every Shinra was as cold hearted as he was. Rufeine steps towards the rubble and the worker lifts it. She turned her head away at the sight, the late Rufus Shinra… his handsome face now scarred and burned almost beyond recognition.

"It's him."

"Right so we'll…"

"Dig him out. I need to give him a proper burial."

The man looked almost appalled, Rufus Shinra one of -the- most hated men in the world. The least deserving of all to even have a proper burial, he should just be thrown into the sea and fed to the sharks… If the sharks even wanted his rotting flesh and cold, black heart. Nonetheless, he did as he was told.

~o~

Several days later, she stood with another man, on a quiet hill overlooking the sea. A single tombstone stood on the top. 

**_Rufus Joseph Shinra_**

**_He was alone in this world,_**

**_I couldn't do enough for him._**

**_May his sins be forgiven and his name remembered._**

**_Forever…_**

'Rufus…' 

_She entered the room abruptly, ignoring the secretary's pleading. He turned, to see her and dismissed the Turk from his office with a curt 'I'll talk to you later, Tseng' before looking at her with a flash of annoyance. She glared back at him just as easily. _

_"What an unexpected surprise, sis." He began smoothly as he reached for a glass, "Some wine?"_

_"Don't play games with me, Rufus. You know why I'm here."_

_"As a matter of fact, I don't."_

_"Didn't you receive my letter?"_

_Rufus stopped pouring for a second, looking up at his sister's enraged face._

_"Yes," He finally replied, "I did."_

_"And?"_

_"And what?"_

_Rufeine could not believe his callousness; she slammed her hands on his desk, leaning straight into his face._

_"Damn it Rufus! Mother is dying! You wouldn't even take my calls! Don't you care?"_

_"Should I?"_

_Her fingers clenched tightly, knuckles going white under her satin gloves. She could have punched him, right there and then, but she breathed slowly and deeply, soothing her raging temper. _

_"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you not only inherited the old man's kingdom, but his self-serving bastard nature as well. I'm sure that you haven't, so tell me, brother, why do you hate her?"_

_He sipped his glass, looking back at her with a cool, collective gaze._

_"Why don't you?"_

_"What?"_

_"You ask me why I hate her, well you tell me first, why don't you hate -her-?"_

_"She's our mother…"_

_He smirked, rolling the stem of his wineglass between his fingers, marvelling at the blood red liquid as it sloshed within its crystalline prison._

_"Old man was our father. Why do you hate him, then?"_

_"Because he never cared for us, he wanted us simply for his own little purposes. We were born and raised simply to be his business partners."_

_She sat down at last on the comfy leather seat in front of his desk, taking the other glass in her hand, staring into it._

_"What makes him any different from her?"_

_She looked up from her reverie, startled by that question._

_"I don't understand."_

_"She abandoned us. Left taking her money, her fancy clothes and jewels…but she didn't take us."_

_"Rufus…"_

_He held up a hand to silence her, setting his glass back down on the table._

_"Mother married him for money, we just so happened to come along. But given the right opportunity, she left him and left us behind like excess baggage."_

_"You're wrong."_

_"Am I? Didn't she marry the young heir she was having an affair with? The one that was 10 years older than you? The naïve, pretty boy with extra cash in his pockets for her to spend?"_

_"That's maybe so, but you don't know or understand what happened, the night that Mother left."_

_He brushed that stray lock of his away with his trademark, confident sweep of his hand. _

_"Tell me then," he said, almost like a challenge, "What happened?"_

_"I…I was peeking at the door. Mother wanted to take us with her. She got down on her knees and begged Old Man to let us go. But… he just threw her out."_

_"……"_

_"And then she decided to take the matter to court."_

_"…But the judge ruled in Old Man's favour because of financial and moral reasons."_

_Rufeine couldn't help but smile at her brother's choice of words. He was looking out the window now._

_"I heard that he was charged with corruption a few years back." He stated, "It was you wasn't it?"_

_It was not a question; Rufeine knew that, indeed she was the prosecutor of that case. Not long after she had obtained her degree and the license to practice law, she left home. Shinra had threatened her by threatening to cut her from the will. But she didn't care; she went to live with her mother and stepfather. And Rufus… the thought suddenly struck her._

_"It's because of me isn't it? The reason you hate Mother." she asked, looking down. "Because I left to be with her, and you were alone with him."_

_He did not reply, but she already knew the answer._

_"I guess, it ran in the family." She sighed, "We'd just use whatever was useful, and then throw it away once it was useless… Old Man was like that, so was Mother, even me."_

_He was still silent. Angry perhaps, when he was a child, he'd give people the silent treatment whenever he got angry._

_"Rufus, I'm sorry. I should have taken you along; I thought that it would be better for you. Take the company once that asshole died. Because he struck me off from the will, you were the sole owner of Shinra Inc I thought it was for the best, so did Mother… She asks for you every day, brother, she's been bedridden for weeks and she's lost so much weight…"_

_The silence was unbearable; Rufeine felt the tears sting her eyes._

_"The doctor says that she might even die today… That's why…"_

_"…Get your coat."_

_She looked up in shock, opening her mouth to protest. After all that she had said, his heart is still hardened?_

_"Rufus…"_

_His lips moved a tiny fraction in the beginnings of a smile._

_"I want to see her…"_

_She smiled as she stood, then her phone rings._

_"Rufeine speaking…" she answered impatiently._

_"Ms. Shinra? This is Doctor Pierce…I'm sorry, your mother…"_

_She didn't need to hear anymore, the phone slipped from her grasp.  Rufus stood next to her, his eyes downcast as she throws herself into his arms and sobs. He patted her back soothingly as she cried, his own tears streak down his face. Despite all her grief, she could feel a slight sense of happiness, that this was the brother that she knew and loved, the one who cared for nothing but her. They could say whatever they want, but only she knew her brother for who he truly was._

"He was my brother, the best brother anyone could have."

"I'm sure of that, Ms. Rufeine."

"Are you, Mr. Reeve?" She smiled wryly, "No one knew him as well as I did. I know that the people thought him a cold, selfish bastard."

The tears stung her eyes again. She remembered his last words. But she never imagined that that would be the last time they would ever speak.

_Rufeine sat in her office in Junon, watching the news intently as the Diamond Weapon made its way to Midgar with surprising speed. If not for the seriousness and reality of the situation, she would have thought it to be a really, really, bad, horribly cheesy movie. Apparently, AVALANCHE were trying to stop it, and the Mako Cannon was ready to fire. The phone rang._

_"Rufeine speaking."_

_"Sis…"_

_"Rufus?"_

_"Sis, I want you to listen very carefully… We're going to fire the cannon, but truth is, I don't know if it will work."_

_"Of course it will…"_

_"Hush, listen to me. Should anything happen to me, you take the company. I'm leaving it all to you. I've sent the legal documents over, do whatever you want with it."_

_"What?"_

_She looked back at the screen, and heard her brother's voice on the other line giving the order to fire. And then she saw the Weapon fire several rounds of energy._

_"Rufus! Get the hell outta there!"_

_He was silent for a second before speaking._

_"It's too late… Take care of yourself Sis, I don't want a family reunion too soon…"_

She didn't have time to reply before the sound of glass shattering was heard and the line went dead. The news flashed the latest update, the energy blasts had slammed straight into the uppermost floors of the Shinra Building. Rufeine could only scream her pain and anguish as she hurled the TV set clean out of the window.

A few tears roll down her cheeks, Reeve fidgeted uncomfortably, offering her his handkerchief and awkwardly patting her on the back. Minutes pass before they finally make their way back to the car.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. I'm selling off the company's assets - the land and properties."

"And the money?"

"You know what to do."

"…Yes. Land restoration and relief funds?"

"Mhmm…" 

Reeve looked at the young woman with great curiosity as she stared distantly out the window, her eyes still fixed on that hill. Indeed she bore great resemblance to both Shinras but her character was…

"Don't think of me as such a saint, Mr. Reeve. It was not my wish, but my brother's."

"President Rufus'?"

"He would have wanted it. He never said it to my face, or yours but it was what he wanted. It's his way of saying sorry, even though I know that the people won't be too willing to forgive, I'll still try."

"You realise the danger of doing this, by coming out and confirming your connections with Shinra…"

Rufeine saw no need to continue the conversation. The car began to move away from the place, her eyes still trained on the little tombstone disappearing out of sight. 

_Two years later, District Attorney Rufeine Shinra hit the headlines as she set up the Shinra Charity Fund, at the same time revealing the true will of late Rufus J. Shinra. There it was stated that all former employees of Shinra Inc. and their families were to be compensated twice fold for their contributions to the company. The community was, undoubtedly shocked by this revelation, however years of mistrust and hatred toward the name Shinra would not be forgotten easily. Rufeine was shot dead half a year later by anti-Shinra activists seeking to completely wipe the name of Shinra off the Planet for good. Only a few people, former employees and friends attended her funeral._

Reeve found himself once again on that hill top, this time accompanied by several former associates, most notable where the three in blue suits, Elena, Rude and Reno, all three were employed in Rufeine's firm not long after Shinra had collapsed.

"Why…?" the blonde woman asked, burying her head in her bald friend's shoulder.

Rude gazed for a while at both tombstones before answering.

"Because people can't forget… and they hate too much."

"Pfft! Then they're no better than Shinra!" Reno spat, "Ms. Rufeine did nothing wrong!" 

"Sometimes, the sin of one man will be carried by his offspring," Rude calmly replied, "even till the end of his days, means nothing to the people."

They stayed there till the sun went down before starting down the hill. The dusk sky glowed streaks of red and orange, much like the locks of both siblings. Reeve on the other hand lingered behind, squatting in front of the gravestone to run his hand over the inscription.

**_Rufeine Helena Shinra_**

**_Sister and friend_**

**_Loved by those who knew her well_**

**_She carried a burden too heavy to bear_**

**_May the sins of her father be lifted from her name_**

**_May she be remembered in fondness forever._**__

He smiled sadly, whispering his promise to continue the fund. Perhaps in time the hatred borne towards Shinra would be erased, maybe not completely, but at least fade away.

"That is my wish…" 

"And I will see to it, that your last wish be granted. I promise… Ruf. I promise."

With that, he left to find her peace.

Author's note: Gah! Finally finished! I finished about 3/4s of the fic days ago but simply could not come up with a suitable ending. The amount of dialogue in this fic is insane I know, but I could not think of any other way of expressing it. In my mind I pictured the two siblings conversing heatedly, not really so much of action involved. Personally, I prefer my first fic, "Goodbye my Darling Valentine" to this one, even though this is much longer. Then ending, still substandard, but a little bit of subtlety involved, as you observe Reeve. 

Now on to the new character of sorts. Rufeine Helena Shinra. She could be either older or younger, I leave that up to you to decide. Basically, she hates her father, loves her mother and brother. She practices law, initially to help President Shinra with legal matters, but obviously, since she hates the old man and wants nothing to do with him, she leaves. This gets her struck off the will, leaving Rufus to inherit the entire company. She actually uses her mother's maiden name, up until Rufus' death, as she needs to claim the property and stuff. Dying was not my initial idea, just sort of popped up. But unfortunately I don't do 'happily ever after' just not my style. Maybe one day, if I get some kind of idea, and the right scenario. But not for long time… =P

Seeya! 


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